I'm Barack
Obama, and I approve this bailout!
We are told that a
bailout, or "rescue plan" as it is euphemistically called according
to a Bush dictate, is absolutely necessary to save the economy from a
meltdown or a freeze-up, depending on what form of Hell you favor. We
are told that credit lines will stop flowing, banks will fail, businesses
will close, people will not be able to buy houses or cars, and the economy
will have a seizure. To avert this, we are told that money must go to
the very agencies that (along with consumers, their dupes) precipitated
the crisis. The Federal government alone has the power to fix the economy,
because capital has stopped. The world as we know it is coming to an end.*
Bush announced this
news last Wednesday, and leading members of the House and Senate of both
political parties have, as well as their presidential candidates, fallen
in line. Does this remind us of anything?
When Bush came on
the set, his head framed like a cross between the iconic mad magazine
figure and Big Brother, we knew it was a lie; or should have. But the
leadership of the Democratic Party, and what's worse, its new agent for
"change," also took the bait?
Who believes that
the only way to get money into the market is through those very firms
holding bad debt underwritten by the loss of American homes? Who believes
that the only way to get credit flowing again is to buy these firms' bad
debt? Who believes that giving into Wall Street/Paulson/Bush blackmail
is the only way forward? He who does believes in negotiating with terrorists!
Let me remind the
reader: the federal government prints money. The federal government distributes
money. The federal government can put liquidity into the market directly-and
doesn't need an end-around, trick, Hail Mary pass to the very parasites
who suck the lifeblood of American workers and their families, who will
hope against hope that the money will "trickle (back) down."
Who has recently criticized this economic philosophy? It's not going to
trickle back down. Instead, we will add 1.3 trillion dollars to our already
crushing national debt.
Instead, the federal
government can put the money directly into the hands of banks and compel
them to lend. They can put the money directly into the hands of businesses
that face possible layoffs or closings. The can put money directly into
the hands of financial institutions to restructure bad mortgages. Had
they done so earlier, they could have averted this crisis. Does anyone
remember which political candidate suggested just this-over a year ago?
The Democratic Party
has proven definitively (again) that it is not the lesser of two evils,
let alone the advocate for the working class. Unable to think, unable
to understand, or else merely duped by the mystification of financiers
and their economic dissemblers, they have proven that they are either
unwilling or unable to imagine another way-a way forward that is equitable,
that is based on real economic need, and that has nothing to do with paying
off the gambling debts of high-rolling thieves on Wall Street. To the
latter, I simply point you to a sign that expresses my sentiments exactly.

To the former, the
Democratic Party, I say: your support of this Bill as it stands or in
any form that simply hands over money and asks the market to take care
of the mess makes you our enemies, not our advocates.
To John McCain, whose
campaign chair Rick Davis was on the payroll of Freddie Mac through August
2008,** I say to you: don't you dare co-opt populist rhetoric and pretend
you stand for "reform." The only" reform" you mean
is "reform" that removes all regulation. Your reform is the
unfettered "free market"--an open season, high altitude helicopter
hunting of working class prey.***
To Barack Obama I
say: you are a fraud on public credulity. You are no more a "change"
agent than I am the Pope. With your support of this bailout, you have
acted in direct contradiction to your promise of change-your promise of
opposing special interests, of putting Main Street before Wall Street,
of finding a way forward that does not beg, borrow or steal from the very
people you claim to represent. If you cannot do more than cave to special
interests now, what "hope" have we that you will resist them
when in office? If you cannot envision another way to save the economy
other than paying off the bad debts of billionaires, why should we expect
you to "stand up to" special interests when in the office of
the President? What is different about taking taxpayer dollars to prop
up and bail out wild speculators and special Wall Street investor interests,
while demanding no guarantees for halting bankruptcies? What is the "change"
you refer to when you advocate and will have voted for propping up the
very fiscal predators that you claim to oppose?
You yourself advised
that we not put riders on the bill, riders that could allow people to
have judges adjudicate bankruptcies in favor of workers. Instead, you
are willing to sign a bill that grants tax breaks to the very business
who got us in this mess, all the while handing them over 700 billion dollars!
Your next ad should
read as follows: "In a time of financial crisis, I stood up to Wall
Street. I stood up to special interests. I stood up to predatory lenders.
I stood up….and handed them a check for 700 billion dollars. More
will probably follow. We had no other choice. These guys threatened to
shut down the economy. I'm on your side. Please understand. I'll do better
in the future. Just vote for me and I'll change things. This bill helps
Main Street. I'm Barack Obama and I approve this bailout."
* Credit card and
loan offers still fill the mailboxes of my friends and family members
to this day, pre-bailout.
** McCain
Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac 24 Sep 2008 One of the giant mortgage
companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from
the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s
campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the
arrangement. The disclosure undercuts a remark by Mr. McCain on Sunday
night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with
the company for the last several years.
*** Loan
Titans Paid McCain Adviser Nearly $2 Million 22 Sep 2008 Senator John
McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five
years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations,
current and former officials say.

Dr.
Rec, The Rec Report

Michael
D. Rectenwald, Ph.D.

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